A pilot study of cancer risks in people living near six nuclear power plants across the United States will include Oyster Creek in Ocean County, the nation’s oldest nuclear plant.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that the pilot study will examine multiple cancer types in populations of all ages living near the sites, and will study cancers in children born near the sites.

Oyster Creek is scheduled to close in 2019, after operator Exelon Corp. reached a deal with New Jersey to shut down the Lacey Township plant a decade earlier than normal in return for not having to build costly cooling towers there.

The National Academy of Sciences, which is conducting the study, said the sites provided a good sampling of facilities with different operating histories and population sizes. It would not say whether the locations were chosen because of their cancer rates.

The study aims to update and improve information on potential cancer risks around nuclear sites provided 23 years ago in a National Cancer Institute report sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

That 1990 report showed no general increased risk of death from cancer for people living in 107 U.S. counties in or near 62 nuclear facilities, including Oyster Creek. The report showed that, in comparison with communities far from nuclear facilities, some of the study counties had higher rates of certain cancers while some had lower rates.

“None of the differences that were observed could be linked with the presence of nuclear facilities,” the National Cancer Institute has said.

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Exelon spokeswoman Suzanne D’Ambrosio said of the latest study: “We welcome a scientific, independent review of health issues in our community and stand by the safety of Oyster Creek.” D’Ambrosio added the plant “has always enacted high-quality programs to monitor the air, water and soil surrounding our facility, to ensure the health of our employees, our neighbors and the environment.”

In addition to Oyster Creek, two other working power plants will be studied. They are: Dresden Nuclear Power Station in Illinois and Millstone Power Station in Waterford, Conn. There will also be two decommissioned plants: Haddam Neck in Haddam Neck, Conn., and Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant in Michigan.

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Clemente, Calif., which sits near fault lines and has been permanently shut, is also included.

The pilot effort will also study a nuclear fuel-cycle facility in Tennessee, which produces nuclear fuel containing both high-enriched and low-enriched uranium. It is undergoing partial decommissioning.

The NRC-sponsored study is estimated to take two to three years, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman.

Study results will be reviewed and a decision made on whether it should be expanded to additional facilities. Information will be available in the coming months at the National Acadamy of Sciences website.